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JUNE 11, 2007 VOL. 21, NO. 9

Fighting Filth

**Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State**

In obvious condemnation of the filthy nature of the Imo State capital, Owerri, Governor Ikedi Ohakim declares war on environmental nuisance in the state
By Eugenia Okpara, Owerri
he derogatory tag of filthy state capital which Owerri is associated with in the last dispensation will soon be history as the new governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, has assured that offensive odour from roadside garbage heaps, gutters and stagnant pools will no longer assault citizens and visitors to the state as this will be taken over by the fragrances produced by flowers.
The governor who made the promise in an inaugural speech to the people of the State, after taking the oath of office, directed that every homestead shall be responsible for cleaning up its environment, just as the local government chairmen will be held responsible for the environmental cleanliness of their areas.
Ohakim: “This gathering here today is more than an inauguration event. It doubles as an event for the rebirth and rejuvenation of Imo State. Working together, we shall recreate Imo State to become a garden State, and Owerri, the jewel in its crown, into a sparkling clean and alluring metropolis, where flowers and the fields are chlorophyll green all-year round”.
He went further to state that “henceforth, every homestead in Imo State shall be responsible for the environmental cleanliness and beautification of its surrounding. To this end, local government chairmen shall be held responsible for the implementation of the ‘Keep Imo Clean and Beautiful programme’ otherwise called Imo Clean and Green Initiative, which will soon be launched”.
There is no doubt that the governor is not comfortable with the legacy of filth left in the State capital by those entrusted with the task of cleaning the metropolis by the former governor, Chief Achike
Udenwa.
The former governor, Chief Udenwa, had wanted the streets of Owerri to be clean, hence he established the Bureau for Sanitation and Environment, gave waiver for the employment of street sweepers, as well as funded the Imo State Environmental Protection Agency (ISEPA), but Owerri was to become synonymous with filth despite the efforts.
Ohakim, many residents of Owerri say, has to device means of ensuring that the Imo Clean and Green Initiative is implemented to the later to avoid the awful pitfall that became the lot of Udenwa in seeking to return the state capital to its former glory of the cleanest capital city in Nigeria.
Regarding the task for every home and the local government chairmen to ensure that the State is kept clean and green all-year round, Ohakim, some observers say, must avoid giving the Council bosses an escape route to tamper with their allocations.
This is hinged on the fact that the former Council Chairmen alleged that their allocations were tinkered with to representatives of the Imo State Government.
Ohakim also promised that henceforth offensive smell will no longer ooze from roadside garbage and gutters filled with stagnant pools as a new birth is proclaimed from the inauguration day. He, however, did not make any pronouncement on the fate of the banks of the Otamiri River which has become the dumping ground for refuse.
Ohakim: “From today, a new birth is proclaimed for Imo State. I want every visitor to Imo State, even if he were blind, as soon as he steps on our soil to know that he is in Imo State by the sweet fragrances
produced by its flowers, and the absence of offensive smell from road-side garbage heaps, gutters and stagnant pools. Let million flowers bloom in every local government area of our State. Let’s make Imo State clean and beautiful. We cannot operate and develop the human and material resources of this great State in squalid surrounding. After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness”.